NEWSWIRE

CRICKET CANADA ANNOUNCES GOVERNANCE CHANGES

Cricket Canada has announced sweeping changes across the organization coming out of the recent Annual General Meeting in Halifax in March. Cricket Canada president, Ravin Moorthy, was pleased with the unified approach the board of directors has taken to modernize the organization

“We are facing significant pressures in the organization and in order to respond adequately we needed to modernize and take some tangible steps forward” said Moorthy.

Major highlights of the changes that can be expected to take hold this year:

Clear division between policy and operational control of the organization

·Day to day business of the organization will be managed by the Chief Executive and his staff. The staff will include a team of ‘hired’volunteers

Consolidation of the Cricket Canada Board of Directors from 17 to 7 members - this in addition to changes in the membership will allow Cricket Canada to comply with the new government guidelines for Not-for-profits

Vetting of nominations for directorship positions by a nominations committee

Term limits on positions

Creating minimum qualification of standards for selectors for all teams

The move on selection has been a long standing issue between Cricket Canada and the International Cricket Council dating back through several administrations.

Moorthy was pleased with the boards support. “It wasn’t just a matter of ticking a box, it’s a matter of good governance and was pleased to see the directors back us on a policy that no longer requires regionalism and electoral dealings to appoint selectors. “

Under the new approved policy, Cricket Canada’s selection panel will consist of members with minimum first class or international playing experience and will have to apply and be ‘hired’ on fixed terms. This policy will be implemented across all of Cricket Canada’s playing programs.

“We’ve put ourselves in a position to move forward with a fully professional team and we’re looking forward to the challenge. The moves made at the AGM are a direct result of the strategic planning initiative we put forward last year and it is starting to bear fruit”

After completing a successful AGM, Moorthy was realistic about the challenges faced in the short term,

“We’ve managed to modernize the structure and bring it in-line with accepted business practices. While we can now say we’ve made administrative progress, we are now firmly focused on the field and our full support is behind our high performance team for the qualifiers ahead in 2013 and 2014.”

Cricket Canada now looks forward to a summer schedule which opens with Canada's premier domestic tournament, the National Cricket League from June 23rd – July 1st before shifting toward international fixtures with the Auty Cup vs USA in late July, and ICC World Cricket League and ICUP matches with UAE and HOLLAND in August.